Thursday, March 12, 2009

Whatcha talkin bout, Willis Tower

Insurance company Willis Group Holdings says the building will now be called Willis Tower

Chicago's landmark Sears Tower, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, will be renamed Willis Tower after insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, the company announced Thursday.

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"The Sears Tower has been an icon here for the last quarter of a century," said John Russick, senior curator at the Chicago Historical Society. "For the generation that grew up calling it the Sears Tower, it'll be hard for people to shift and start calling it something else," he said.

Indeed, many long-time Chicago residents still refer to the Standard Oil Building, now know as the Aon Center, as "Big Stan" Russick said. That building's name has been changed twice since it was built in 1973.

The Sears Tower was opened in 1973 and is 1,729 feet tall, including its antenna. It was originally named for retailer Sears, Roebuck & Co., which moved its headquarters to Hoffman Estates, Ill. in 1992.